7 Days In Art

Julius may have inspired Shakespeare and a pizza chain, but Sid made millions laugh with "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour." Tonight, you've got good reason to stay in, as KCET presents "The Sid Caesar Collection." The documentary includes sketches from both shows and interviews with some of the greats who worked behind the scenes: Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Carl Reiner. You can even order in some pizza! pizza! should you feel so inspired.
7-8:30 p.m. KCET. For more information, go to www.kcet.org.

Sunday

OK, here's the dish: the Skirball Cultural Center is calling all foodies. If you like to eat (Hey, you are Jewish, aren't you?) head over for its Food Festival, celebrating the international cuisine and cultures of Los Angeles. There's plenty to keep you busy, including food and wine tastings, cooking demonstrations and activities for the kids. If you're like us, you plan to glutton yourself on all of it. So break out the elastic waistband pants and we'll see you there!
11 a.m.-4 p.m. $8 (general), $6 (seniors and students), free (members and children under 12). (Additional fees for food and wine tastings.) Bring a can of food for donation and receive $1 off admission. 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. For reservations, call (323) 655-8587.

It's hard to relate personally to news headlines about places so removed from our backyards. But Leora Krygier brings it home in her new novel. Set against the backdrop of the San Fernando Valley, "First the Raven" is the story of Amir, an Israeli ex-paratrooper struggling with life as a veteran of two Middle East wars and the first intifada. Krygier signs her book at Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore today.
2 p.m. 11975 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles. For more information, call (310) 476-6263.

Monday

Poor Danny Simon. He's always being compared to his more famous younger brother, Neil. And with his play, "The Convertible Girl," he committed an unfortunate and unforseeable faux pas in his choice of name for his main character. We feel bad that Danny makes us think of Neil, and that his character Ron Goldman makes us think of O.J., especially since "The Convertible Girl" sounds like a darling little play. So cut him a break and check out the show tonight at the Beverly Community Theatre.
7:30 p.m. Runs through Aug. 20. $15 (general), $10 (seniors and students). 241 Marine Drive, Beverly Hills. For reservations, call (310) 551-5100, ext. 8459.

Tuesday

You may have to get over feeling resentful of Ben Gleiberman first, but once you do, you'll agree the kid is talented. Barely out of college, the Jewish ex-frat boy known fondly as "Gleib," hosts "Gleib's College Comedy," the Laugh Factory's regularly sold-out Tuesday night show. And hey, don't hate him because he's funny. He may just be able to give you a job some day.
9:30 p.m. $10 (plus two-drink minimum). Must be 18+. 8001 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. For reservations, call (323) 848-2800.

Wednesday

The Danube River was a passageway for fleeing Jewish refugees and Bessarabian Germans returning to the fatherland in 1939 and 1940. As a ferryboat operator on the Danube and an amateur filmmaker, Capt. Nándor Andra sovits both witnessed and documented these contrary departures. His films have become the springboard for the Getty Center's "The Danube Exodus: The Rippling Currents of the River," an interactive video installation comparing what artist Peter Forgacs calls, "The incomparable duet of the German Jewish exodus."
10 a.m.-6 p.m. (Sundays and Tuesday-Thursday), 10 a.m.-9 p.m. (Fridays and Saturdays). Runs Aug. 17-Sept. 29. Free. For more information, call (310) 440-7300.

Thursday

You started out the week with Sid Caesar and spent your Tuesday with Gleib. Now it's time to school yourself on all those funny Jews who've paved the way in between. Tonight, writer and humorist Arie Kaplan discusses, "Wizards of Wit: How Jews Revolutionized Comedy in America."
7:30 p.m. $10 (general), $5 (students), free (members). Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. For reservations, call (323) 655-8587.

Friday

Those of us not of the Catskills generation still remember that, "nobody puts Baby in the corner." Now Murray Mednick has created a new story about a Jewish resort in the Catskill Mountains, this one set in 1948. And while there's no dirty dancing in this play, "Fedunn" does promise plenty of nostalgia and family drama.
8 p.m. (Thursday-Saturday), 3 p.m. (Sunday). Runs through Oct. 13. $25. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles. For reservations, call (310) 477-2055.

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